KENNESAW — South Cobb salvaged a 26-21 win Friday night at Harrison, but made one of the worst plays coach Ed Koester said he has witnessed in the process.

With a 26-14 lead with 2 minutes left in the game, the Eagle offense was on the field to run down the clock. After a timeout by the Hoyas, Eagle quarterback Stephon Masha led his team back onto the field. While he still seemed to be calling the play, the ball was snapped past Masha and toward the goal line. The ball bounced for 32 yards before it was recovered by Harrison’s Damon Cowan in the end zone for a touchdown.

“Any win’s a good win,” said Koester. “But of all the bonehead things that I’ve ever seen that pretty much takes the cake. I’ve been doing this a long time and I’m not sure anyone has seen anything like that before.”

The point after by Cooper Largent moved the Hoyas to within a score, but they failed to recover an onside kick and South Cobb successfully ran out the clock.

The fumble recovery was one of just a few plays that brough fans to their feet.

Only minutes earlier fans on both bleachers were awed by a touchdown reception by Chris Simon. Making his only catch of the night for the Eagles, Simon pinned a 25-yard strike from Masha to his hip, stumbled backward against a defender and seemingly tripped his way into the end zone. The touchdown gave South Cobb the biggest cushion either team had enjoyed 26-14.

“It seemed like would get down there make a penalty or get down there and they’d make a good play, but that put us up (12) points.”

South Cobb (6-1) opened the game with a 61-yard strike from Masha to Jeremiah Alphabet. On the following play, Chauncey Ingram took the ball 10 yards for the first score of the night.

Harrison answered with a long pass of its own. Drevan Jones scored on a 74-yard pass from Lorenzo Nunez to knot the score 7-all after one.

The Hoyas would go on top 14-7 with Jones and Nunez connected again — this time from 30 yards.

Masha’s quarterback keeper from 1 yard out combined with a missed extra point, left the Eagles trailing 14-13 before Carlos Saldana made a 32-yard field goal with 2 seconds remaining in the first half.

Saldana’s 33-yard kick — the only score of the third quarter — made the game 19-14 and set up the staggering catch by Simon.

Masha finished the game 15-for-28 for 266 yards and a touchdown through the air and another 66 yards and a score on the ground. Ingram rumbled for 116 yards on 23 carries.

*We welcome your comments on the stories and issues of the day and seek to provide a forum for the community to voice opinions. All comments are subject to moderator approval before being made visible on the website but are not edited. The use of profanity, obscene and vulgar language, hate speech, and racial slurs is strictly prohibited. Advertisements, promotions, and spam will also be rejected. Please read our terms of service for full guides